Ratchet wrench including toothless drive

Abstract

A ratchet wrench mechanism is set forth. It is constructed so that it advances on rotation in one direction and locks when attempting to rotate the ratchet in the opposite direction. It does not require incremental advances as occur with a toothed locking mechanism in the ratchet. Rather, the handle supports a socket which has a surrounding shoulder with upper and lower faces. The socket and shoulder have a gap to permit socket insertion over a bolt. The shoulder passes through wedge shaped chambers or cavities in the housing, and wedges loaded by a bias spring are forced towards the narrow end of the tapered chambers. Rotation in one direction is permitted because the wedges are retracted to the large end of the cavity, but rotation in the opposite direction is forbidden when the wedges move to the opposite and narrow end of the cavity.

I claim: 
     
       1. An open end wrench comprising: (a) a handle;   (b) a socket having a plurality of flats arranged around an internal socket opening therein wherein the flats cooperate to engage a bolt head or nut constructed in accordance with an industry standard, and wherein said socket is constructed and adapted to rotate the bolt head or nut, and said socket includes a gap enabling the bolt to pass through said gap in alignment of the socket with the bolt head or nut;   (c) an encircling protruding shoulder concentric about said socket and interrupted by said gap;   (d) upper and lower parallel faces on said shoulder encircling said socket;   (e) a housing supported by said handle and encircling said socket sufficiently to hold said socket for rotation relative to said housing without escape from said housing wherein socket rotation is guided by said shoulder; and   (f) first means moving between a wedged position against said upper parallel face on said shoulder and a free position wherein said first means in the wedged position locks said socket against rotation in one direction, and said first means permits rotation in the opposite direction, and second means moving between a wedged position against said lower parallel face on said shoulder and a free position wherein said second means in the wedged position locks said socket against rotation in one direction, and said second means permits rotation in the opposite direction.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said handle terminates in said housing and includes a shoulder conforming cavity for said shoulder. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of claim 1 including duplicate, spaced apart first means supported by said housing wherein each of said first means engages said faces at a spacing greater than the gap in said socket. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said first means provides said wedged position on rotation in the same direction. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said first means comprises: (a) a wedged-shaped member having a face in contact with one of said faces on said shoulder;   (b) a confining wedge-shaped cavity in said housing having a confining surface wedging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface and also against one of said faces on said shoulder; and   (c) resilient means urging said wedge-shaped member against said surface.   
     
     
       6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said handle is a pair of joined handle members defining said housing to encircle said socket at least partially thereabout to confine said socket for rotation. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said socket has a height sufficient to engage the flats of a bolt head or nut, and wherein said shoulder formed on the exterior of said socket circumferentially encircles said socket except at said gap, and said shoulder is guided by a conforming cavity with upper and lower faces around said shoulder. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of claim 7 including duplicate, spaced apart ratchet means supported by said housing wherein each of said ratchet means engages said surface at a spacing greater than the gap in said socket. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said ratchet means provide said wedging condition on rotation in the same direction. 
     
     
       10. An open end wrench comprising: (a) a handle;   (b) a socket having a plurality of flats arranged around an internal socket opening therein wherein the flats cooperate to engage a bolt head or nut constructed in accordance with an industry standard, and wherein said socket is constructed and adapted to rotate the bolt head or nut, and said socket includes a gap enabling the bolt to pass through said gap on alignment of the socket with the bolt head or nut;   (c) an encircling and exposed face concentric about said socket and interrupted by said gap wherein said face is located in a plane at right angles to the axis of rotation of said bolt head or nut;   (d) a housing supported by said handle and encircling said socket sufficiently to hold said socket for rotation relative to said housing without escape from said housing wherein rotation is guided by said face; and   (e) wedge shaped means moving between a wedged position against said face and a free position wherein the wedged position locks said face and socket against rotation in one direction, and said wedge shaped means permits rotation in the opposite direction.   
     
     
       11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said handle terminates at said housing and includes a conforming cavity for said wedge shaped means. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of claim 10 including duplicate, spaced apart wedge shaped means supported by said housing wherein each of said wedge shaped means engages said face at a spacing greater than the gap in said socket. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said wedge shaped means comprises: (a) a wedged shaped member having a face in contact with said face on said socket;   (b) a confining and shaped cavity in said housing having a confining surface wedging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface and also against said face on said socket; and   (c) resilient means urging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface.   
     
     
       14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said socket has a height sufficient to engage the flats of a bolt head or nut, and wherein said face of said socket circumferentially encircles said socket except at said gap, and said face is positioned adjacent to a conforming cavity for said wedge shaped means. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of claim 13 including duplicate, spaced apart wedged shaped means supported by said housing wherein each of said wedge shaped means engages said face at a spacing greater than the gap in said socket. 
     
     
       16. An open end wrench comprising: (a) a handle;   (b) a socket having a plurality of flats arranged around an internal socket opening therein wherein the flats cooperate to engage a bolt head or nut constructed in accordance with an industry standard, and wherein said socket is constructed and adapted to rotate the bolt head or nut, and said socket includes a gap enabling the bolt to pass through said gap on alignment of the socket with the bolt head or nut;   (c) a housing supported by said handle and encircling said socket sufficiently to capture and hold said socket for rotation relative to said housing without escape from said housing wherein rotation is guided by said housing; and   (d) wedge shaped means moving between a wedged position and a free position wherein the wedged position locks said socket against rotation in one direction, and said wedge shaped means permits rotation in the opposite direction; and   (e) an encircling gripping surface concentric about said socket and interrupted by said gap wherein said surface is located to cooperatively grip said wedge shaped means for controlling rotation and said surface is toothless and smooth.   
     
     
       17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said handle terminates at said housing and includes a conforming cavity for said wedge shaped means. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of claim 16 including duplicate, spaced apart wedge shaped means supporting by said housing wherein each of said wedge shaped means engages gripping surface at a spacing greater than the gap in said socket. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said wedge shaped means comprises: (a) a wedged shaped member having a face in contact with said gripping surface on said socket;   (b) a confining and shaped cavity in said housing having a confining surface wedging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface and also against said gripping surface; and   (c) resilient means urging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface.   
     
     
       20. The application of claim 16 wherein the socket has a height sufficient to engage the flats of a bolt head or nut. 
     
     
       21. An open end wrench comprising: (a) a handle;   (b) a socket having a plurality of flats arranged around an internal socket opening therein wherein the flats cooperate to engage a bolt head or nut constructed with accordance with an industry standard, and wherein said socket is constructed and adapted to rotate the bolt head or nut, and said socket includes a gap enabling the bolt to pass through said gap in alignment of the socket with the bolt head or nut;   (c) an encircling protruding shoulder concentric about said socket and interrupted by said gap;   (d) upper and lower parallel faces on said shoulder encircling said socket;   (e) a housing supported by said handle and encircling said socket sufficiently to hold said socket for rotation relative to said housing without escape from said housing wherein socket rotation is guided by said shoulder; and   (f) first means moving between a wedged position against one of said faces on said shoulder and a free position wherein said first means in the wedged position locks said socket against rotation in one direction, and said first means permits rotation in the opposite direction, said first means comprising: (1) a wedged shaped member having a face in contact with one of said faces on said shoulder;   (2) a confining wedge shaped cavity in said housing having a confining surface wedging said wedge shaped member against said confining surface and also against one of said faces on said shoulder;   (3) resilient means urging said wedge shaped member against said surface, and   (4) said first means provides said wedged position on rotation in the same direction.